Investing in real estate is one of the best ways to accumulate wealth and add diversity to your portfolio. This used to be reserved for the rich and privileged, but that’s all changed thanks to real estate investing apps.
Now you can start investing in real estate just by downloading a couple of these apps. If you’re looking for a passive income stream, this option can be a good way for you to have market exposure to residential and commercial properties.
I compiled a list of the best apps for real estate investing based on my actual experience using these apps.
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Top 9 Real Estate Investing Apps
- Arrived: Best Overall Real Estate Crowdfunding App 🏆
- Fundrise: Best For Beginners
- Groundfloor: Best for Financing Real Estate Projects
- HoneyBricks: Best for Crypto Investors
- RealtyMogul: Best for Public Nontraded REITs
- Crowdstreet: Best for Long-Term Investors with High Net Worth
- Streitwise: Best for High Dividends
- LEX Markets: Best for Individual Commercial Property
- Yieldstreet: Best for Alternative Investing
1. Arrived
🏆 Best Real Estate Crowdfunding App Overall
Minimum Investment Required = $100
Minimum Investment Period = 3-5 years
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
Arrived (formerly Arrived Homes) is one of the newest real estate crowdfunding platforms on the market and is quickly growing in popularity. This is no surprise considering the company allows investors to buy shares of rental properties with a minimum investment of only $100.
The company handles all of the landlord headaches, such as finding and acquiring the properties, finding tenants and handling the day-to-day operations that go along with property management. Investors simply collect their share of the rental income each quarter while the properties they invest in appreciate in value over time.
Arrived also makes the process incredibly easy. Simply sign up for a free account on the website and browse available properties to invest in. Since new rental properties on the platform often get fully funded rather quickly, you can reserve shares of upcoming properties before they become available, so you don’t miss out on any great investment opportunities.
2. Fundrise
🏆 Best For Beginners
Minimum Investment Required = $10
Minimum Investment Period = 90 days
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
Fundrise is a real estate crowdfunding platform that allows everyday investors access to residential and commercial properties that they couldn’t invest in on their own. This is made possible by pooling money from everyone to buy and manage real estate properties.
Think of Fundrise as a private real estate investment trust (REIT), but without the massive fees. REITs invest in a basket of properties for you – similar to how mutual funds invest in a basket of stocks. You and other investors get percentage of the income generated by these properties.
Performance has been phenomenal. Take a look at this chart that compares the performance of Fundrise against Public REITs and the S&P 500 since 2017:
The best part about Fundrise is that it takes just $10 to get started and you’re able to withdraw your investment up to four times a year. This is extremely flexible and liquid for what’s essentially a private REIT.
>> And for a limited time, invest $10 and get a $10 bonus in shares!
This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. While I earn a commission from the partner link below, all opinions are my own.
3. Groundfloor
🏆 Best for Financing Real Estate Projects
Minimum Investment Required = $10
Minimum Investment Period = 12 months (see below)
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
Groundfloor is a mobile-first platform that allows both accredited and non-accredited investors to lend money to finance real estate projects, primarily for the construction or renovation of homes, duplexes, and multifamily properties. It has won numerous awards since its founding in 2013, including Forbes Fintech 50.
These real estate project loans can have a duration between 12 to 18 months and have historically returned 10% annually. As an investor, you are participating directly in the loan on a fractional basis are are automatically diversified across dozens of loans. Investors can then earn interest on their loans.
With the Auto Investor Account, repayments are automatically reinvested into new, available loans so your portfolio can keep growing over time, and you can see repayments within as little as seven days. Get started with just $10 (though most start with $100) and enjoy no fees to invest.
You can also download the newly launched Groundfloor mobile app on Google Play Store or Apple App Store to get started. This is unique as the majority of brands listed on here are only accessible via their website.
4. HoneyBricks
🏆 Best for Crypto Investors
Minimum Investment Required = $1,000
Minimum Investment Period = 12 months
Accredited Investor Requirement = Yes
If you want to invest in high-quality commercial real estate using crypto, fiat money, or a credit card, then HoneyBricks could be the right fit for your passive income strategy.
This platform lets you own fractional shares in commercial properties with top-notch investment managers across the US. You choose which project you want to invest in and their partnered management team run the asset to its highest potential. Your share of the distributions can be sent directly to your digital wallet or bank account.
Unlike other companies listed here, HoneyBricks turns real estate value into tokens stored on the blockchain through a tokenization process. By leveraging blockchain technology, they enable investors to own real estate digitally.
Not only is this more secure, but it significantly reduces the paperwork process to open or sell a position. They also mitigate the volatile prices of first-generation cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether by using “second layer technology” for real estate tokens, providing a consistent value tied to the property’s value and investment performance.
HoneyBricks is available for US and non-US accredited investors with a minimum investment of $1,000. This compares favorably with other crowdfunded real estate platforms that require investing at least $10,000.
5. RealtyMogul
🏆 Best for Public Nontraded REITs
Minimum Investment Required = $5,000
Minimum Investment Period = Varies (see below)
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
Open to both accredited and non-accredited investors, RealtyMogul makes it easy to explore previous property offerings and their performance even before signing up. And after you create an account, you’ll be able to view current properties and filter them by list price, property type, location, and other relevant investment criteria before investing.
There are three investment types you can select from:
- REITs available to all investors
- Individual properties for accredited investors
- 1031-eligible Private Placement investment options
Real estate isn’t a liquid asset and RealtyMogul is no different. However, if you invest in one of the REIT offerings, you may have the opportunity to sell back your shares to RealtyMogul quarterly at the following values:
| Years Held | Price |
| < 1 Year | Cannot Sell |
| 1 to 2 Years | 98% Value |
| 2 to 3 Years | 99% Value |
| 3+ Years | Full Value |
With the RealtyMogul dashboard, you can quickly check your portfolio performance, including details on how much money you’ve invested, your investment return, and historical account transactions.
6. Crowdstreet
🏆 Best for Long-Term Investors with High Net Worth
Minimum Investment Required = $25,000
Minimum Investment Period = 36 months
Accredited Investor Requirement = Yes
Crowdstreet is like the Costco of commercial real estate investing. It offers accredited investors an exclusive and highly curated list of real estate deals to invest in.
Fees are displayed for every deal and vary depending on the offer. Alternatively, you can take the more hands-off approach and invest in The Blended Portfolio. The management fee for this ranges from 0.5% to 1%.
While Crowdstreet is targeted for accredited investors that can invest at least $25,000 with a long-term horizon, they have opened up some properties and funds for non-accredited investors too – just know that it’s not whom the site is for.
7. Streitwise
🏆 Best for High Dividends
Minimum Investment Required = $5,000
Minimum Investment Period = 12 months (see below)
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
Streitwise offers a number of REITs that allow investors to invest in commercial and multifamily properties such as:
- office buildings
- warehouses
- apartments
- condominiums
Investors can earn a return through the rental and lease income generated by these properties while Streitwise oversees the ownership and management of them. This lets individuals invest in real estate without the need to directly purchase and manage the properties themselves.
Streitwise offers a little bit of flexibility, but assesses hefty penalties if you sell back shares within five years of buying. That’s because there’s no secondary market to buy and sell shares (and selling disrupts the long-term planning of real estate investing):
| Years Held | Price |
| < 1 Year | No Buybacks Allowed |
| 2 Years | 10% Penalty |
| 3 Years | 7.5% Penalty |
| 4 Years | 5% Penalty |
| 5 Years | 2.5% Penalty |
| > 5 Years | Full Net Asset Value (NAV) |
The fee is a flat 2% annually, which is very reasonable and one of the lowest among the real estate investing apps on this list. Streitwise is worth considering when you compare the fee against the inception-to-date average dividend of 8.96%.
8. LEX Markets
🏆 Best for Individual Commercial Property
Minimum Investment Required = $250
Minimum Investment Period = None (see caveat below)
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
LEX Markets is a real estate platform that offers two different services; providing individuals access to individual commercial property deals and helping property owners with an effective way to raise capital. I’m going to talk about the former as that’s the topic we’re focusing on.
The things I like about LEX Markets are the low $250 minimum investment, the low 1% annual management fee, and the fact that you can buy and sell real estate shares at anytime. It’s also different than other real estate investing apps mentioned here because it offers individual commercial property opportunities versus funds of various properties.
However, the seemingly good liquidity may be an issue. It’s a newer platform with less investors – open properties have very low monthly trading volume, so selling early isn’t guaranteed. Investors should consider this a long-term play unless volume picks up.
>> Sign up for LEX Markets today and get a $50 bonus when you deposit your first $500; $100 bonus when you deposit $2,500; or a $500 bonus when you deposit $10,000.
9. Yieldstreet
🏆 Best for Alternative Investing
Minimum Investment Required = $500
Minimum Investment Period = 36 months
Accredited Investor Requirement = No
Yieldstreet is an platform that lets you invest in alternative investments that was once reserved for the 1%. This includes not only real estate, but other assets like art, real estate, and debt offerings as well.
Watch this 30-second YouTube video if you want to learn why consider alternative investments:
Most first-time investors on Yieldstreet invest in the Yieldstreet Prism Fund because it bundles multiple alternative assets into one fund and pays a consistent distribution every quarter. It requires a $500 minimum investment and you don’t have to be an accredited investor.
If you are an accredited investor, defined as someone who has a yearly income of over $200,000 or a net worth of $2 million, you have the option to build your own custom portfolio and buy short-term notes.
Why use real estate investing apps?
I recently looked at The World’s Billionaires list by Forbes and find it incredible that 256 billionaires owe their success primarily to real estate.
But I wasn’t that surprised. Most self-made millionaires become rich by pursuing wealth in at least one of four paths:
- Corporate Executives: Individuals who started an entry-level job at a large company (typically after graduating college), and worked their way up the “corporate ladder” to an executive role
- Saver-Investors: Modest income people who consistently save 20% or more and invest it in the stock market over the long-term
- Dreamer-Entrepreneurs: Young self-starters who launch their own businesses in pursuit of a dream or more experienced folks that took a chance when they saw an opportunity in a marketspace
- Real Estate Investors: People who buy investment properties and build up their portfolios to enjoy a combination of appreciation (an increase in the property value) and rental income
None of them are easy and each of them have their own unique set of risks. For example, corporate executives could lose their job at any time and one out of every four entrepreneurs fail at least once in business.
With real estate investing, the biggest cons for most people are the large amounts of money required and problems with managing a growing portfolio (i.e. payment issues, contract disputes, on-going maintenance, etc.).
That’s all changed in the digital age. Now you can start investing in real estate by simply downloading a couple of Android and iOS apps. There’s a growing list of real estate investment apps today with new ones coming out all the time.
Frequently Asked Questions
For beginners with limited funds, Fundrise and Arrived Homes are two of the most popular mobile apps to start investing in property. For experienced users, Crowdstreet is especially tailored for those who are accredited investors with more available capital.
Ultimately, the best app to invest in real estate depends on your experience and risk appetite.
Yes, the real estate investing apps listed here are legit. Please do your due diligence for other apps not shown here.
Additionally, you can be confident that a company is operating under the proper regulations if their investing app is registered with the SEC and FINRA.
The SEC is a U.S. government agency that regulates the securities market. It protects investors by making sure the company is transparent and honest. FINRA is an independent organization that handles the licensing and regulation of all brokerages. It makes sure that the broker is tested and qualified to sell securities.
You can look up each real estate app by name using this SEC link or this FINRA link.
An accredited investor is an individual that’s allowed to trade securities that may not be registered with financial authorities. They are entitled to this privileged access by satisfying at least one requirement regarding their income or net worth.
Income: A person must have an annual income of at least $200,000 ($300,000 for joint income) for the last two years and expects to have the same or higher level of income in the current year.
Net Worth: A person is also considered an accredited investor if they have a net worth of at least $1 million excluding their primary home. They can satisfy this requirement either individually or jointly with a spouse.
Real estate is less liquid than traditional equities because it’s a more specialized asset operating in a narrower market of buyers and sellers. For example, selling a commercial building takes a lot longer than selling shares of stock.
Ownership shares in a private REIT are similarly difficult to sell. Because of this, most companies charge early withdrawal penalties to reduce liquidity and thereby protect other investors against rapid price fluctuations.
Yes. Just like other asset classes (stocks, bonds, crypto), there are market and economic risks that may affect the value of your investments.
These platforms are affected by the volatility of the real estate market. Investing in property via mobile apps exposes your funds to economic fluctuations, in a similar way as if you were to directly buy a property or rent out an apartment complex.
Real estate investments are traditionally a long-term play. Although you can invest for a short duration (as little as a few months), a longer time horizon allows your investments to better manage the economic cycles.
The Bottom Line
Real estate investing apps give the average person the ability to invest in real estate without the need to directly purchase and manage properties themselves. It can be a good option for those who are looking to diversify their investments with an asset class that has the potential to produce stable returns over the long-term.
Investing in real estate this way also avoids some common issues with owning property directly – like the day-to-day expense of being a private investor or the hassle of being a landlord.
In my opinion as someone who does both (rents property and uses real estate investing apps), the latter takes far less of my time and is less of a time sink.
It’s important to note that investing in a REIT, like any other investment, carries risks. You need to carefully consider your financial situation and risk tolerance before making any investment decisions. Do your own due diligence and if you’re not comfortable investing on your own, consult with a financial professional before taking the next step.
